Qora is an innovative cryptocurrency designed from scratch to enable people to take the biggest advantage of the possibilities that the blockchain technology has to offer. Like any other cryptocurrency, Qora facilitates fast, secure, anonymous and inexpensive transactions to and from any point of the world. But what makes Qora special is that it expands beyond payments only. It has a data storage system, a voting feature, an encrypted messenger, a naming service, a decentralised social network and many more benefits. Everything on the platform is transparent and distributed in a peer-to-peer network. Qora is also simple and user-friendly, accessible for everyone, anywhere around the globe.

The project was publicly announced in March 2014 and since then has been implementing more and more features into its system. Qora was developed in Java and uses a proof-of-stake algorithm. This means that the cryptocurrency does not need to be mined which makes it more energy saving. In contrast with proof-of-work systems, such as the one of Bitcoin for instance, which consume a large amount of computing power and are also inflationary. Moreover, Qora has a relatively short time between blocks of one to five minutes which makes it way quicker than Bitcoin. Qora was firstly distributed via an Initial public offering or IPO and the total coin supply is 10 billion coins.

Qora can be exchanged to Bitcoin and Litecoin on online exchange markets such as Poloniex, CCEDK and Bter. It has four types of e-wallets that run on the three main operating systems – Windows, Linux and Mac and also a universal wallet suitable for different devices. The wallets are highly secured and are designed to be as simple as possible in order to cater to the needs of ordinary people. In order to execute a transaction, users only need to type in the recipient’s name without having to fill any long forms. With no central body in control of the network, transfers fees are very low and people remain anonymous. However, thanks to the public ledger that records every transaction, transparency of payments is guaranteed.

Among all the benefits that Qora has to offer, there are several that stand out. The voting system, for example, is an innovative way of receiving feedback and suggestions for improvement from customers. By creating polls, Qora can get its users involved in important decisions and get ideas for its future development. Furthermore, the platform offers a data storage in which people can upload up to 100KB of texts, images and of course transaction information. Qora also enables customers to exchange assets for other assets without the involvement of any intermediary. The platform has additionally implemented a decentralised web and social network. With all the advantages that Qora offers, it seems to be a unique and promising project that may one day contribute to unlocking the limitless possibilities that the blockchain technology has to offer.